Red-letter day for Victory

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Melbourne Victory's Archie Thompson celebrates the second of his
two goals in yesterday's 5-0 win over Sydney.Photo: Vince Caligiuri

MELBOURNE was magnificent and Sydney was a shambles with Socceroo striker Archie Thompson stamping himself as the most exciting player in the country as the Victory yesterday humbled the competition's self-proclaimed glamour team 5-0 to leap to the top of the A-League standings.

This was a big occasion that demanded big performances and it was Melbourne's money men, the sublimely skilled Thompson and the experienced veteran Kevin Muscat, whose guile and presence stamped their authority on proceedings.

Thompson was outstanding, scoring two goals and creating two more as Melbourne romped to an easy victory over a side regarded by the bookies as the favourite for the championship.

Muscat — who earned the wrath of referee Matthew Breeze and a yellow card after an early off-the-ball clash with Sydney midfielder Terry McFlynn — weighed in with two himself, both from the penalty spot after former Austrian international Richard Kitzbichler had opened the scoring with his second goal in two games.

Sydney skipper Dwight Yorke found himself eclipsed in the brightness that bathed a sun-kissed Olympic Park, packed full with a record crowd of more than 18,000 fans.

Many now believe that, in the absence of injured Liverpool star Harry Kewell, Thompson should gain a spot in the Socceroo starting line-up alongside Mark Viduka for the make-or-break World Cup qualifying matches against Uruguay next month.

The 26-year-old, created the first goal down the left when he accelerated past Andy Packer into the penalty area, shimmied past Jacob Timpano and drew the rest of the Sydney defence out of position before sliding the ball across to the unmarked Kitzbichler. The winger had the poise and patience to control the ball and look up before picking his spot and unleashing a fierce left-foot drive into the far corner past Clint Bolton, who did not even bother moving.

It was a goal that changed the face of a match that until then had been fairly even. In fact, had Yorke converted a gilt-edged chance from close range when the game was scoreless, things could have been different.

Afterwards Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick was as upbeat as he ever allows himself to get. "It was a fantastic result," he said. "We focus on everyone doing a job and if the performance is right individually and collectively the results look after themselves and it was just one of those days where it did. It was a great performance by the boys in front of a fantastic record-breaking crowd so it was a great day for Melbourne and Victoria."

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Melbourne Victory's Archie Thompson celebrates the second of his
two goals in yesterday's 5-0 win over Sydney.